by Tricia Bates Smith

My light burst forth and they were there to greet me.

The ones I had chosen and those who had chosen me.

I smiled and giggled and laughed and grew.

And, they basked in my light, working hard to keep it bright.

As I strived to grow more like them, to move in their world,

I expected they would be patient with my ways that were once theirs.

I brought my gifts and eagerly expressed them,

Only to find that they did not fit in with what the giants wanted.

I believed my light of love would break through and we would connect again.

But their fear for my fitting in was more powerful so I could not sustain it.

I fell.

The Earth is a hard place.